We have now hit that time of year. Pitchers and catchers have already reported to some teams' camps and others will be over the next couple of days. Though opening day is a little ways away, baseball has started in the eyes of the die hard. The off season has come to a conclusion and the focus is on what to expect out of the upcoming series of baseball months. It also means the return of www.johnpielli.com 's 30-1 MLB countdown previews, the more controversial series of team baseball previews. All you have to do is go to the same generic websites and read the same predictions. They all have the teams positioned the same. The teams that made the postseason last year are rewarded in the minds of the pickers and are picked to finish in the top of their respective leagues/ divisions. The teams that did not do so well in 2014 are all predicted to finish at the bottom of the division- unless they had a big off season, where in some cases, they get expectations that they cannot fulfill. My predictions are based on how I perceive each roster looks. I have studied the 2014 MLB team, its 2014- 2015 off season, their minor league system and have come up with an overall outlook for 2015. I also use the Las Vegas over- unders to judge the amount of wins I think a team will net for the upcoming season. In some cases, my outlook is completely different from the likes of baseball prospectus (almost always is), baseball america, MLB dot com and other sites. As in past years, I am always up for the debate so I look forward to hearing from you. As always, thanks and "I'll see you on the other side." If you follow my predictions of the Philadelphia Phillies over the past two seasons, you will see that I have had more faith in the organization than most. Two years ago, I thought they were good enough to make it to the postseason, which of course, they didn't. Last year, I saw how they could be a middle of the pack team and maybe overachieve; that did not happen either. I have a very hard time believing in a team to perform immediately whose message is "we have to rebuild." See: 2011 Mets, 2010 Astros, 2013 Marlins. The Phillies major moves this offseason were the trades of SS Jimmy Rollins, OF Marlon Byrd and LHP Antonio Bastardo. The team will continue to look to subtract before it will look to add, which summarizes the thoughts of their 2015 season. Before the middle of this season (and maybe earlier), the team will likely have traded RHP Jonathan Papelbon, LHP Cliff Lee, 1B Ryan Howard and maybe even LHP Cole Hamels. The major additions for the Phillies have been RHP Aaron Harang, RHP Chad Billingsley and pitchers Ben Lively, Zack Eflin and Tom Windle (the three of whom were all acquired in the Rollins and Byrd deals). The 2014 Phillies did not have a ton of hope going into the season. However, with the veteran presence of proven winners Rollins, Chase Utley, Howard, Lee and Hamels, there was a thought that 2014 could provide a last competitive rush. The injury to Lee (4-5, 3.65, 13 starts) was a dagger that the organization could have done without. What was even worse was what happened to the offense. The talk coming into the season was how this team could overachieve if the likes of Utley, Howard, Ben Revere and Domonic Brown could all stay healthy. Well... they did and it didn't make much of a difference. The Phillies finished last in the NL East with a record of 73-89- the first full season for manager Ryne Sandberg. The pitching staff will look a lot different in 2015 and could look even more different if the Phillies decide to make a trade involving Hamels and/ or Lee. The pitcher that led the Phillies in IP, S and BF last season was none other than AJ Burnett (8-18, 4.59). He is back in Pittsburgh. Kyle Kendrick (10-13, 4.61) left as a free agent to join the Colorado Rockies. Hamels (9-9, 2.46 in 30 starts) is by far the one constant the Phillies can rely on in their rotation for 2015. I also think it would be silly is the Phillies traded Hamels for anything less than Jackie Bradley Jr AND Xander Bogaerts or Will Myers AND Andrew Cashner. You can also make a case that the Phillies would be fine keeping their ace during their rebuild. After Hamels and Lee, the Phillies are expected to use two bright spots in the second half of their 2014 season. RHP David Buchanan (6-8, 3.75 in 20 starts) and veteran Jerome Williams (6-7, 4.77 in 37 games, 11 starts for three teams) both pitched very well and are expected to return to the rotation. Williams was 4-2, 2.83 in his 9 starts with the Phillies. Harang (12-12, 3.57, 33 starts for Atlanta) is the favorite to win the number 5 spot in the rotation with Billingsley coming off the Tommy John surgery to give Harang, Williams and Buchanan a push. Miguel Gonzalez (6.75 ERA in 6 games) and Jonathan Pettibone (only 2 starts in 2014 after making 18 for the Phillies in 2013) should also be in the mix and will be the first to join the rotation of a trade is made involving a starting pitcher. Non-roster invitees Kevin Slowey and Jeanmar Gomez will be in Clearwater as well. The bullpen is most certainly looking towards the passing of the guard. It is a matter of time before disgruntled closer Papelbon (2-3, 2.04, 39 saves in 66 games) is traded. That will open up the door for Ken "100 miles" Giles (3-1, 1.18 in 44 games, 64 Ks in under 45 IP) to become the closer. In the meantime, they do have a good mix of relievers with Jake Diekman (5-5, 3.80, 100 Ks in 71 IP), Justin De Fratus (3-1, 2.39 in 54 games) and Luis Garcia (1-0, 6.43 in 13 games). Expect more out of the 28 year old Garcia, who should be very good with additional responsibility. He pitched to a under 1.00 ERA in his two years in AAA. LHP Mario Hollands (2-2, 4.40 in 50 games) will try to become that prototypical lefty on lefty specialist with RHPs Hector Neris and Ethan Martin trying to make spots in the pen. For the exception of Rollins and Byrd leaving via trade, little is expected to change in the Phillies lineup. However, losing Rollins leadership and Byrd's 2014 numbers (.264, 25, 85) will be tough to replace. Freddy Galvis (.176, 4, 12 in 43 games) gets his shot to play SS everyday. Offensively, he is better than his career offensive numbers but he really has to show it this season or he will be replaced. The problem is the Phillies really lack a viable replacement should Galvis struggle. Cesar Hernandez (.237, 1, 4 in 66 games) is next on the depth chart followed by NRI Chase d'Arnaud (.232 in 149 MLB ABs). Veteran Grady Sizemore (.233, 5, 27 in 112 games for Boston and Philadelphia last season) inherits the starting LF job with Darin Ruf (.235, 3, 8 in 52 games) and Kelly Dugan perhaps getting a shot to play. Ruf, Dugan and Makiel Franco (.179 in 56 ABs) will all benefit if Howard (.223, 23, 95) is traded. Howard was healthy and hit for some power, but clearly was nowhere near the dominant offensive player he was during the Phillies NL East winning streak. Utley had a very good 2014 season (.270, 11, 78) and if he continues to stay healthy, he is expected to duplicate his career averages. Revere (.306, 2, 28, 49 SB) was solid for the team as well. If the Phillies want to surprise anybody this season, they need a big bounce back season from Brown (.235, 10, 63), who will be back in RF after playing LF in 2014. The Phillies need him to become a power guy once again, but it doesn't seem likely for him to duplicate his 27 HR 2013 season. The Phillies lineup should look something like this: Revere CF, Galvis SS, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Sizemore/ Ruf LF, Brown RF, Cody Asche (.252, 10, 46), Carlos Ruiz (.252, 6, 31). The fact that the Phillies can have as many as 6 left handed hitters in their lineup adds some value to guys like Ruf and Franco. Journeymen RH hitters Russ Canzler and Chris Nelson could be just as valuable if used the right way. Cameron Rupp is expected to be the backup catcher with Koyie Hill in camp to compete. The Phillies may have the answer at SS down the road with 2013 1st round pick JP Crawford. Roman Quinn (who I saw play a couple years ago at Low A Lakewood) looks like a decent option down the road. He is a switch hitter who has excellent speed. Neither will be up this season. LHP Jesse Biddle had a down season in 2014 in AA, but is certainly worth watching as the season goes on. Lively, picked up in the Reds trade for Byrd, is the one to watch as I think he can be a solid 3-4 starter in the Phillies rotation for years to come. 2014 1st round pick Aaron Nola rose through the Phillies system last year and is expected to be better than Lively. The problem I have with the 2015 Phillies is the quit and rebuild approach that GM Ruben Amaro Jr seems to be implementing. It's great for the future, but it is a sign that the Phillies will punt the 2015 season away. Even if guys like Howard and Lee have very good seasons, it is likely the Phillies would rather trade them that make a run for a wild card spot. 2015 will be as bad as it will get for the Phillies, 65-97 (under 68 1/2), last place in the NL East division.

I'm happy to be putting together my annual MLB team previews for the 3rd consecutive March. Each of the past seasons, I have learned from my experience that I have to make adjustments to my initial thoughts. My beef has been with all the experts just piggy backing off Baseball Prospectus to rank the teams to prospective finishes. Before the 2012 season, I tried to make a point that they are never completely correct. By doing so, I made some bolder predictions to try to stand out. I also noticed that the know it alls simply like to predict that the same teams that were successful last season will automatically be great the following year. While that is not necessarily true, there is no formula to pick that "sleeper team" for any given season. Doing this for the 3rd season, I've put together a better balance of logic and belief in the up and comer. Feel free to comment both on the outlook of each team I preview as well as where I rank them among the 30 in MLB. The Houston Astros made their debut in the AL last season and did probably as well as could have been expected. The competition of both the AL West and the American League as a whole made the transition very difficult. On the bright side, the team has invested a lot in its player development and has one of the best young farm systems in all of MLB. Under new manager Bo Porter, the team finished 51-111 with the worst record in all of MLB. In what I feel was a stark contrast to last off season, I actually think the Astros did a good job. They traded for Dexter Fowler, getting themselves a regular CF and also added 1B Jesus Guzman and RHP Alex White through trades. They signed Scott Feldman and Jerome Williams as free agents, two pitchers who should be able to eat innings and give the team better matchups against other teams starters. I agree that neither will ever be a number one, but having them at the top is better than what they have had over the past two seasons. They also added veteran relievers Jesse Crain and Chad Qualls to the mix, hopefully blending in with the younger arms they have. While the outlook does not look too good for this season, there is a lot to look forward to. Shortstop prospect and former number one overall draft pick Carlos Correa should make his MLB debut this season as well as Jonathan Singleton, George Springer and Delino DeShields, Jr. Jared Cosart is their first high end pitching prospect to make his debut in this regime. He is likely to be joined by Mark Appel and Lance McCullers, Jr soon. It will be difficult to expect any of these players to star right away, but for Cosart and Appel it would not be a surprise. As far as this season goes, the Astros are returning their two best offensive players, All Stars Jason Castro (.276, 18, 56) and Jose Altuve (.283, 5, 52). They are joined by Chris Carter (.223, 28, 82, 212 Ks) and Matt Dominguez (.241, 21, 77). Soon to be 23 year old SS Jonathan Villar (May 9) will be the starting SS opening day. He hit .243 in 58 games last season and will step aside as soon as Correa is ready. Fowler is coming off a down season in Colorado (.263, 12, 42) where he played in just 119 games due to injury. Guzman (.226, 9, 35 in 126 games in 2013) has faded over the past two seasons since having a solid 2011. LJ Hoes (.287, 1, 10 in 46 games) and Robbie Grossman (.268, 4, 21 in 63 games) are likely to start in the outfield until Springer and maybe DeShields (if they move him from 2B) are ready for the big leagues. It is a matter of time before Singleton and Correa take over for Guzman and Villar, repectively. My lineup would look like this: Altuve 2B, Hoes RF, Fowler CF, Castro C, Carter DH, Dominguez 3B, Guzman 1B, Grossman LF, Villar SS. Marwin Gonzalez and JD Martinez will probably anchor the bench with a possibility that Marc Krauss gets a look. Ultimately, the prospects will move some of the projected regulars to the bench. I do like the moves to bring in both Feldman (12-12, 3.86 in 30 starts for Cubs and Orioles) and Williams (9-10, 4.57 in 37 games, 25 starts for Angels). Cosart (1-1, 1.95 in 10 starts last season) and Brad Peacock (5-6, 5.18 in 18 games, 14 starts) are likely to start the season in the rotation. The final spot and top insurance policies will be from the group of Brett Oberholtzer (4-5, 2.76 in 13 games, 10 starts), Lucas Harrell (6-17, 5.86 in 36 games, 22 starts), Dallas Keuchel (6-10, 5.15, 31, 22), Paul Clemens (4-7, 5.40, 35, 5) and Collin McHugh (0-4, 10.04, 7, 5). Don't let some of the numbers deceive you, Keuchel and Harrell should show improvement this season and McHugh has not gotten a full chance to start in the big leagues yet. Ultimately, Appel and Mike Foltynewicz could get their feet wet this season. Feldman, Williams and Peacock should be able to eat a lot of innings this season. Cosart and Harrell will fill out the rotation, in my opinion, to start the season. The Astros bullpen is a disaster. Last year, they got some help from Jose Veras before he was traded to the Tigers. Wesley Wright (0-4, 3.92 in 54 games in 2013 with Astros) was traded to the Rockies for Alex White, who could be an important piece in the bullpen for them. The fact that Josh Fields (1-3, 4.97 in 41 games) and Chia-Jen Lo (0-3, 4.19 in 19 games) are the favorites to be the team's closer does not bode well for them. Crain, if he is healthy, can be a godsend for the one time Colt 45s (2-3, 0.74 in 38 games with White Sox last season). Despite a very good 2013 for the Marlins, Chad Qualls (5-2, 2.61 in 66 games) has been very up and down season to season. White (2-9. 5.91 in 23 games, 20 starts for Rockies last season) was a top prospect for Indians and Rockies and could be a sleeper to establish himself as a reliever. Darrin Downs and Raul Valdez will battle for the left handed specialist role. Two others to watch are former Padres RHP Anthony Bass and former Red Sox and Indians RP Matt Albers. My bullpen would consist of Fields, Lo, Bass, Crain, Qualls, Albers and Downs. They all need to be at their best for this to be a good BP this year. I think the Astros can improve this year, but not much based on record. They were 51-111 last season; I see them at 58-104, last place in the AL West. Vegas had them at 62.5, so I am taking the under. The 7 game improvement does not seem like much, but they play in one of the toughest divisions in all of MLB. The importance is in the development and to get some of the younger top players into the majors. I think 2015 could see a significant improvement if the seeds start to get planted.

As I am putting a bow on my MLB 2013 previews, it is worth mentioning many felt the same about the top two teams on my list last season. The Angels had just gotten Albert Pujols, CJ Wilson and was already a perennial playoff type team. In spite of all the hype, the Angels won 89 games last season and missed the playoffs. The best teams on paper are not necessarily the best teams but logic would prove that the Angels and Tigers (number one on my list) have the two best teams in all of MLB. The Angels went out and got themselves Josh Hamilton to go along with Pujols, Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo. DH Kendrys Morales was traded to Seattle in the deal that brought them LHP Jason Vargas. They also moved RHP Jordan Walden to Atlanta to get themselves RHP Tommy Hanson. Essentially Vargas (14-11, 3.85) and Hanson (13-10, 4.48) replace Dan Haren (12-13, 4.33) and Ervin Santana (9-13, 5.16) in the rotation. Many say the Angels are not as strong as they were last season. Remember, Zack Greinke did not come over in the trade with Milwaukee until the trade deadline and Jerome Williams was the team's fifth starter. Joe Blanton (10-13, 4.71) comes over as a free agent to be the fifth starter. I think, outside of not having Greinke, the Angels have a better rotation than they did at the start of last season. Jared Weaver (20-5, 2.81) is no question the team's ace with Wilson (13-10, 3.83) as the number two. Obviously having Greinke would have made the rotation great, but it looks just fine anyways. The bullpen will be a question, though it has improved. Free agent signing Ryan Madson will start the season on the disabled list as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. They also signed Sean Burnett (1-2, 2.38 in 70 games with over 9.0 Ks per 9 IP) as a free agent from Washington. Ernesto Frieri (4-2, 2.32, 23 saves with 80 Ks in 64 1/3 IP) will start out as the team's closer with Scott Downs (1-1, 3.15) and Kevin Jepsen (3-2, 3.02) providing depth. Starting rotation candidate Garrett Richards, who was one of the organization's top pitching prospects, may be able to establish himself as a solid back of the pen reliever. However, the Angels will probably use Richards (4-3, 4.69 in 30 games, 9 starts) as a long reliever and spot starter. The offense is going to be tremendous. Trout, at age 20, had as good of a rookie season as could ever be imagined. He hit .326, 30, 83 with 129 RS, 182 hits and 49 SB. If it was not for Miguel Cabrera, Trout would have been the AL MVP. Pujols (.285, 30, 105, 50 2Bs) was said to have had a "down" season but still put up the numbers. Trumbo (.268, 32, 95) will settle into the DH position held by Morales (.273, 22, 73). Hamilton (.285, 43, 128) settles into LF, allowing Vernon Wells to be traded to New York. Peter Bourjos (.220, 3, 19 in 101 games, 168 ABs) will get the chance to be the everyday CF. His numbers were decent in 2011 (.271, 12, 43 with 11 3B with 22 SB). He has the chance to be even better, and may feel less pressure that Trout is in LF. Howie Kendrick (.287, 8, 67) is at 2B with Erick Aybar (.290, 8, 45) at SS and Alberto Callaspo (.252, 10, 53) playing 3B for the whole season. Last season Trumbo spent some time at 3B. Chris Iannetta (.240, 9, 26) played in just 76 games due to injury last season. With the trades of Wells and Morales, the Angels have a very weak bench. That may be the team's only weakness. Vegas has them at 89 1/2 as their over under. I predict a 96-66 finish, 1st place in the AL West. If the Angels falter this season, Mike Scioscia could possibly lose his job. GM Jerry DiPoto took over reigns recently and the talent on this team will give Scioscia less margin for error. Critics say Scioscia may not be the man for this type of team. I think that discussion will end after this season.

It would make no sense to deny the fact that the Los Angeles Angels lost some firepower they had in their rotation last season. With Zack Greinke signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Angels have now lost three starting pitchers from their 2012 rotation. Ervin Santana was traded to Kansas City earlier this offseason and Dan Haren just signed a 1 year, $13 million contract with the Washington Nationals. While few in the game have the ability to lead or co-lead a pitching staff like Greinke, I want to make a case for the Angels starting pitching staff to still be fine next season.

It is safe to say the hardest sell will be how the Angels could possibly be better without Greinke. Especially considering they traded their top SS prospect Jean Segura to the Brewers to get Greinke for two months. It was clearly the Angels intention to sign him, but it did not work out. But, the Angels came into the 2012 season with a solid rotation, without Greinke. Jared Weaver finished 3rd in the AL in the Cy Young voting and was 20-5, 2.81 in 30 starts. CJ Wilson (13-10, 3.83, 34) led the team in innings pitched and was consistent throughout the season. So, outside of losing Greinke, the Angels will have back their two top starting pitchers from the 2012 season. Their rotation seemed stacked with the likes of Haren and Santana pitching 3 and 4. Of course, they were pitching 4 and 5 when Greinke arrived. But lets be honest, both pitchers had disappointing seasons in 2012. Haren was 12-13, 4.33 and Santana was 9-13, 5.16. Both pitchers made 30 starts and are clearly looking to rebound from down years. Haren, 31, gets replaced by Atlanta's Tommy Hanson, 25, who was 13-10, 4.48 in 31 starts for the Braves in 2012. Santana, 29, gets replaced by top pitching prospect Garrett Richards, 24, who was 4-3, 4.69 in 30 games, 9 starts for the Angels last season. Richards has compiled a 34-11 record with a 3.34 ERA in 4 seasons in the minors. While Haren and Santana are looking to bounce back, Hanson and Richards have not reached their full potential. Neither have reached their ceiling, while a case could be made that Haren and Santana have. Last year, the Angels started the season with former Giants prospect Jerome Williams as their 5th starter. Joe Blanton is far from a sure thing, but does provide innings and could be a bigger asset as the team's 5th starter. Blanton was 10-11, 4.71 in 31 games, 30 starts for the Phillies and Dodgers last season. In my opinion, Weaver, Wilson, Hanson, Richards and Blanton of this season have the opportunity to give the Angels more than they got from Weaver, Wilson, Haren, Santana, Williams last season. Not signing Greinke could hurt them, but they could still trade for a starter this season if they feel necessary. They may not have to, especially if Hanson and Richards improve as expected.